New 200-bed hospital to be built in Dubai

Dubai: The Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) has announced a new 200-bed hospital project by Dr Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group (HMG), catering to the growing demand for multi-specialty services and boosting the medical tourism sector in Dubai.

The announcement was made on Sunday during a ground-breaking ceremony attended by Princess Haya Bint Al Hussain, wife of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and chairperson of the Dubai Healthcare City Authority.

The Al Habib Medical Group is one of the largest providers of comprehensive health care services in the Middle East with seven hospitals and three medical centres in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The new hospital will be its second project in the UAE, and one of three projects under way in the region.

The new hospital is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2013, Gulf News has learnt.The [new] hospital will offer a comprehensive range of services. The focus will be on complex specialties like neurology and cardiology. We hope to provide up-to-date services in different specialties,” said Sulaiman Abdul Aziz Al Habib, the founder and chairman of the group.

He explained that the group is experienced in setting up and running hospitals in the region and has set up six hospitals in the past three years. “We hope to finish the hospital within 12 months. Till date, we have completed two 10-storeyed hospitals within the same time frame,” he said.

Speaking to Gulf News on the role of a new hospital in promoting medical tourism, Eisa Al Haj Al Maidour, the director-general of the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), who was also present at the ceremony, said the expansion of the health sector is in line with the vision of the Ruler of Dubai and the directives of Dubai’s Integrated Waste Management Master Plan.

Al Maidour said, “Tourism is a big economic driver. Medical tourism, of which medicine and education are components, is an important sector for us. Expansion is not only about infrastructure but also about adding medical services. We are pleased that there will be an additional medical service to the existing services that Dubai hosts.”